Sara Palin is a national icon right now and you would think would be fighting for further women’s rights; however she is extremely conservative, and I feel that this might be a prime example of gender socialization in Alaska where Palin is from.
Gender socialization plays a big role in our society, it tells a person what identity to create by influencing how people act, think and look. It also shows you how the other gender is different and also how they are the same. Gender Identity and ideologies about gender are shaped by society’s influence in someone’s social life. When children are young their gender identity is shaped largely by parents and school. Later in their lives it might change from school to their places of work, friends and other forms of their social lives. For example I was taught at a young age that as a boy I was to do different chores than those of my sisters. I had to take out the trash, feed the dogs, and help out with repairing sain nets when my nets would get holes torn in them after fishing trips in Alaska. To most people these jobs are described as more masculine jobs that are usually more suitable for a male to do. Where more feminine jobs consist of more indoor jobs that are less physically demanding. In Alaska this is the case but at a higher extreme. Living in Alaska for my entire life I sometimes feel that Alaska is behind the rest of the country at least a decade when it comes to women’s rights. The views in Alaska are extremely old fashioned and I feel that these views have shaped some of the ideas that Sara Palin has fought for, some of whom have not necessarily been in favor of women’s rights. I feel that this Is a prime example of how socialization through a persons life can affect there views on life even if those views are somewhat non beneficial to themselves.
